Senior executives and officials constantly strive to keep sensitive, confidential intellectual property and trade secrets protected. During personal conferences involving the discussion of sensitive matters, for example matters relating to strategic approaches, advertising, new products or the like, for example those typically held in offices and elsewhere, the confidentiality of communications, such as oral communications with others must be maintained. However, at the same time, staying in contact with one's coworkers is, more than ever, typically being done by cellular or mobile wireless devices. These individuals thus need to keep their devices connected to the network and be able to recognize and respond to certain calls and messages even when otherwise having sensitive and confidential discussions with others. However, such devices present a threat to security, whether through hacking not authorized by the owner of the device, or through surreptitious use of the device by its owner. More particularly, the technology exists today for the unauthorized conversion of another's smartphone or other handheld device into a “bug” enabling the hacker to listen in on a conversation being carried on in the proximity of the hacked device.
Typically, such hacking involves enabling the microphone in a smartphone and establishing a connection between the smartphone and a recording device being operated by the hacker. In this manner, the hacker can make a recording of the conversation available to, for example, competitors, hostile government officials, or other industrial, political or military espionage services.
Today more and more devices are capable of multiple functions and a growing number of devices are capable of being manipulated remotely by using the microphone in the device as a remote listening device. In addition to such conversion of the device's built-in microphone to allow room sounds to be picked up and transmitted to a remote location, the possibility also exists for the smartphone's built-in video camera to be converted to perform a military, political or industrial espionage function.